by Tristan Vick
“Daeris Darkthorne?”
“Who else? She made a deal. Daeris would not invade Koroth if Zarine promised to turn you over the instant you returned.”
“So, she gave me up in exchange for the lives of her people.”
“Are you going to pretend you wouldn’t have done the same?”
I stop in the middle of the passage and look at Lisette. “I honestly don’t know. I guess I’ve always believed that I’d fight for my friends no matter what. But I was never faced with an ultimatum like that. Of having to trade the lives of my friends for the lives of an entire kingdom.”
“It couldn’t have been easy for her.” Lisette looks behind us as some crewmen rush out into the passageway, but they turn the other way and quickly disappeared behind a corner. “Come on,” says Lisette, motioning me to follow her. “It’s not safe to talk here.”
We finally come out into the vault. Lisette scurries over to Guerriero and begins arming him with all kinds of add-ons. She even mounts a giant crossbow with an arrow that could take down a dragon in one go.
I reach over to help her hoist it up but she defers my offer. “It’s all right. I always handle these things myself. Mainly because I don’t trust anyone to do as good a job. Not that I don’t trust you.”
“I understand. You and Guerriero have a special bond. That’s why you treat him with the utmost care.”
“I know you’d understand,” she says with a grunt as she thrusts the massive wooden crossbow onto Guerriero’s back and slides it into place.
With a deafening boom, louder than a thunder clap, the Aeronautilus heaves up. It rolls to the right and then falls and sways back to the left. It feels like a real sailing vessel. One caught in a raging squall. But we’re high up in the clouds, and there’s no waves to crash against the hull.
“Who on earth is attacking us?”
“It’s Darkthorne’s Juggernauts. They probably followed you to see whether Zee would fulfill her promise and turn you in. It appears she’s changed her mind. And for that, Darkthorne will have her killed.”
“No, she won’t,” I say. “Darkthorne swore to me that as long as I tracked down the remaining Swords of Sabolin for her, she wouldn’t harm any of my friends.”
“Arianna! What friends? Look around you…Leif tried to let Hannah into his own mind and went insane for his troubles! I warned him not to, but he wouldn’t listen. Ever since Blacksage brought her back to torment him, he couldn’t let her go. As for Alegra, she returned to Thananor. And Zee, well, she suffered such a severe case of a broken heart that she turned cold and grew distant. Not that I was ever overly fond of her. But the change was noticeable. Even to me.” Tears begin streaming out of Lisette’s eyes as she looks upon my face. “And the worst thing of all,” she says, sniffling and wiping a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand, “I lost my best friend.”
“Oh, sweetie,” I say, taking her in my arms. “I’m here now. Right here beside you.”
“Halt!” a man’s voice shouts out. “You there! Prisoner!”
We break our embrace and turn to see several crewmen running toward us.
“First officer, is this criminal bothering you?” one of the crewmen asks.
“No,” Lisette answers, raising her hand and stopping their approach with a gesture. “I’m perfectly fine. You three go man the lift.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they say, and scurry off to do her bidding as quickly as they had descended upon us.
After a brief pause, Lisette smiles at me and then nods toward Vanguardian. “You’d better get in. Because we’re stepping out for a bit, and it’s about to get hairy.”
After suiting up, I check to see if I have both swords at hand. I do. Lisette, inside Guerriero, clanks over to the elevatorum platform and steps on. The lift begins to raise her up and I watch her until she’s out of site.
I wait for the platform to return, but there’s a sudden blast, and the hull is breached. A giant sized hole the size of a grown man opens in the bulkhead and reveals a gray backdrop outside of the ship. There’s another thunderous boom, and fire races into the vault and a giant clay fireball smashes into the bulkhead where the controls are. Levers, ropes, and pulleys ignite with flame and the crewmen working the lift scatter. One of the men catches on fire, but his comrades quickly put him out and drag him to safety.
I look back up at the overhead compartment to see the platform stuck in position. There’s absolutely no way for me to dislodge it without the sailors’ help, and they’re desperately trying to put out the fire lest the entire ship burn up and fall out of the sky.
“Vanguardian?”
「Yes, Mistress Arianna.」
“You said you could pierce anything, correct?”
「That is correct.」
“Then we need to get through there.” I raise my hand and point at the bulkhead that is the side of the great sky whale’s ribcage.
「As you wish.」
A faint murmur begins inside Vanguardian, although I cannot pinpoint where the sound it is coming from. The noise grows into a high-pitched whine, and then I feel my left hand getting extremely hot.
“What’s going on?”
「I’m preparing an energy beam. 」
“A what?”
「Never mind. Just aim your palm at the bulkhead. When the pain becomes too unbearable, then it’s ready.」
“When will I know that it’s…”
A searing pain burns into the palm of my hand. It feels like I am holding my hand above a candle flame, stubbornly refusing to remove it from the fire, even after my palm begins to blacken and smoke.
And that’s just the first stage of the pain.
Soon I’m screaming. I don’t even realize it until my cries reach my own ears, but I am screaming. I raise my armored hand, open my palm, and point it at the bulkhead. Just when the pain increases to the point I think I might pass out, I feel energy rushing out of me and a narrow pink beam of light shoots out of my hand as swiftly as an arrow.
The beam radiates for about thirty seconds then stops. When I look at where the light beam impacted, I can hardly believe my eyes. Instead of the Aeronaudilus’s bulkhead there is a gaping hole. Outside, clouds whisk by.
Around the opening of the hole, the lip of the bulkhead glows molten hot with a fiery orange.
I check my palm, but it appears fine. I want to ask Vanguardian what in the Nether that was all about, but I realize that Lisette is out there alone, facing off with the other four Juggernauts. All aiming to take her down.
With loud clunky steps, I race across the deck of the Aeronautilus. When I get to the hole, without even pausing to think about it, I leap out.
I start into a sky dive and then deploy my wings. The wind catches on my wings, and like sails they pull taught. Soon I’m climbing at a breakneck pace. Above me I see Guerriero fighting off three other flying Juggernauts.
Drawing both blade, I rush past the first Juggernaut. The others don’t even know what’s happened till I already pass, and I look back to see the Juggernaut slip in half. After a brief delay, there is a fiery explosion and the other two Juggernauts back off.
“What took you so long?” Lisette asks.
“Had a bit of a hang up,” I reply. “But I took care of it.”
“You always do,” says Lisette, her voice exuding confidence in me.
“You know, I remember there was a time when I was the one trying to give you a confidence boost.”
“I remember,” she says.
One of the flying Juggernauts rushes in to attack and Lisette and I break away, narrowly escaping the swipe of its lethal blade.
“I’ll take care of this Togaran swine!”
I dip down and trail the meddling pest. As we plummet through thin layers of wispy clouds, I glance back up at Lisette to see her launching a volley of rapid bolts from Guerriero’s gatling crossbow attachment. The other Juggernaut, which has a purple tint to it, swiftly pulls away and escapes getting riddled with bol
ts.
Both Juggernauts draw their heavy blades and rush in to attack one another. There’s a spray of sparks and I can hear the resounding clangor of their swords crashing together.
Below me, the Juggernaut disappears into the cloud cover and I quickly pull up. If I follow him into the clouds, I lose my advantage. I hover above the clouds for a moment, my wings flapping just enough to keep me in a holding position.
“Dammit.” I realize I’ve lost him.
I turn to climb back up to the Aeronautilus and Lisette when something shoots out of the clouds and wraps around my ankle. Slowly it starts dragging me down.
“Vanguardian! Engage Dragon thrusters now!”
「As you wish, Mistress Arianna. But I feel I should warn you, there is currently an air battle engaged directly above us. We may risk hitting one of the combatants if not debris from the battle.」
“I’m well aware of that, V, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry right now.”
There’s the whirr of the thrusters winding up, and then, like a roaring waterfall, the sound rattles every bit of the armor—but we climb into the sky with the force of a volcanic eruption.
The poor idiot latched to my foot gets scorched as the Dragon thrusters blast two streams of condensed fire right on top of him. The heat is so intense, in fact, that his little wings burn up and disintegrate in midair.
Looking up, I twist and roll, avoiding any collision. Then, the Aeronautilus looming big, and I blaze across the lookout of the wheelhouse like a bat out of hell. I’m sure I gave everyone a good scare too.
I fly higher and higher, until the atmosphere grows thin. The blue gathers along the horizon but all around me is a black starry void. I begin to feel small and insignificant, and terribly afraid. Over the horizon of the planet peaks the crest of the moon. Her heavenly light washes over me as though I am baptized anew in her glorious warmth.
I kick my leg upward and toss the singed Juggernaut upward. As he floats by, I sever the cord with the Moon Blade, and watch him get carried out into the great void.
Slowly, I begin to fall back toward the planet. Then, like a boulder rolling down a hill, I pick up speed. Soon I’m cutting through thin layers of translucent white faster than I can count off the seconds. Then I see it. The Aeronautilus is on fire.
Standing on the top deck of the Aeronautilus is Guerriero, surrounded by four new Juggernauts.
The new recruits circle around her and carefully draw their weapons. Lisette spins in a circle, gauging her opponents, preparing to fight to the death.
That’s when the terrible realization sinks in. I’m not going to make it in time to help her. She’s just too far out of reach and I can’t fall any faster than I already am.
“Vanguardian, do we have enough energy reserves to do another energy blast?”
「Reserves are running low, Mistress Arianna. I may have enough juice left to give you one more blast. But there won’t be enough to control the wing mechanisms or even maneuver.」
“Do it I say.”
「Before I do, I think you should know that, after we’ve expended the last of the Dragon’s eye crystal’s power, you’ll be dead in the air. And that’s not to mention the damage you may do to the Aeronautilus.」
“It’s a risk I’m going to have to take.”
「I beg you to reconsider.」
“Now!” I scream.
「As you wish.」
36
As I plummet through the sky, my vision briefly comes into focus, but blurs out again. That’s how I know that I’m oxygen deprived. It must be the altitude, I think.
Fading away again, my memories race back to a time when I was training with Master Kel. I took a hard spill when we were practicing our katas on a boulder down by the river. I knocked myself unconscious then too, and fell into the water. I washed up on shore, only to be aroused by the worried calls of Master Kel.
“Arianna!”
Master Kel’s voice suddenly morphs into Vanguardian’s mechanical voice. He too calls my name out.「Arianna!」
I almost snap back into consciousness, but the darkness is so peaceful. Soon enough, I allow myself to return to it.
Master Kel kneels at my side and rubs my back. I spit out water and then cough as I try to take in air faster than my little lungs will allow.
“Stand up, Arianna,” Master Kel tells me.
“I can’t,” I tell him. “It’s too difficult.”
“Giving up would be easy, wouldn’t it?” he asks. “Don’t worry, young one,” he says, smiling down at me. “I wouldn’t blame you if that’s the choice you make. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It just means you have nothing left to fight for.”
“But I am weak,” I say to him.
“What is a warrior when he has no battles left to fight? No war left to wage?” Master Kel asks me.
My faces rests upon the stone bank, my feet still dipped into the cold water of the river. “Just a regular person, I guess.”
“Regular people get up each day,” Master Kel replies to me. “They wake up, put on their clothes, eat breakfast. The question is, why not you?”
“Because I’m weak,” I say. Tears of frustration flood into my eyes.
“No, child,” he says in his most soothing voice. Master Kel presses down on my back and says, “That’s a demon, whispering in your ear, telling you how easy it would be to quit now. To give up your training. To leave behind days of painful exercises and sore muscles.
“Sure. Giving up is an option. It certainly would solve every single one of your problems. But it doesn’t solve the world’s problems. It doesn’t solve your friends’ or loved ones’ problems.”
“But I don’t have any friends,” I protest. “All the other girls point and call me names.”
“That’s because they don’t recognize greatness, Arianna. But I see greatness in you.”
“You do?” I ask, wiping away a sniffle.
“How could I not?” he beams. “You see, sweetie, that’s the thing you need to keep in mind. Regular people—they don’t care about anyone else’s problems but their own. Heroes, on the other hand, care about everyone’s problems. Enough to want to do something about it. That’s why they’re called great.”
Giving it my best effort, I begin to push myself up off the ground.
“Why do we fall, Arianna?” Master Kel asks me. It’s his final lesson of the day. Reaching down, he clasps his hand around mine and pulls me back up. I look up at him with teary eyes and he smiles down at me. “So that we may learn to get back up.”
My eyes shoot open and I see the starry canopy above me growing further away by the second.
「Arianna!」Vanguardian yells.
“I’m awake!” I shout. “I’m awake.”
「Thank the Maker. You had me worried there, for a moment.」
It’s the first time I’ve ever heard Vanguardian rattled. It’s almost sweet, in a way.
I check whether I’m about to be flattened on the earth below. Luckily, I’m still far above the Aeronautilus, freefalling from the highest echelons of the Valandrian sky. And I am about to release a blast of energy that could kill everyone below. Including two of the women I care most about.
I clasp my fingers around my burning fist as the energy pools into my hand. I grind my teeth from the agony of its blistering pain, but I hold out. Not yet, I tell myself. Not yet.
「Mistress Arianna….」
“Yes, Vanguardian?” I reply, talking to the voice that has infiltrated my mind.
「I feel I should at least warn you that this course of action you are about to takeis a very, very bad idea.」
“Very bad, you say?”
「Yes. Very.」
I hold back a chortle. Although I find Vanguardian’s literal-mindedness rather amusing, and he kind of reminds me of Alegra in that way. I must try and keep my mind focused on the task at hand.
I raise my palm, which is sparking and spurting with pink magic that radiates out like the sp
lash of water upon a lake surface after a stone gets tossed in. Likewise, ripples of energy spread out in waves from my clenched fist.
「Energy beam is at critical. If you wait any longer the beam may overload and you’ll lose your entire arm.」
“We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”
Suddenly we break through the last layer of cloud cover. I raise my arm, take careful aim, and open my fist.
A bright energy blast shoots out of my hand and crashes down onto the upper deck of the Aeronautilus. Two Juggernauts standing opposite Lisette get annihilated in the blink of an eye. At the same time, the energy beam cuts into the upper deck like a hot knife cutting through butter. There’s really no other way of describing it.
Immediately following the blast, there is a massive explosion. The tethers to the port lodestone begin snapping, one after another. As the flames of the explosion leap out of the ruptured hull, the ropes begin to break away. When this happens, the giant ring that holds the lodestone starts to tear away.
Due to the sudden shift in the lodestone’s pitch and yaw, the massive air vessel begins to tilt sideways and sink down into the cumulus clouds below. It almost seems as though it has a breach in its hull and was taking on water.
Layers of clouds rush past me as I plummet, and I know I must act fast. “Vanguardian, do you have any energy left?”
Vanguardian’s voice has died away, but I know he can still hear me, for his last act is to open his chassis to allow me to eject myself from the immobilized body armor.
My hair swirls about in the wind and I carefully climb out of Vanguardian’s torso. The Moon Blade is within reach. I reach out and retrieve it from V’s hand. I would try to get to the Sword of Runes as well, but it’s too far out of my reach. Besides, I must cut my losses somewhere.
My time to act races away as fast as the ground races toward me. I thrust my legs out and kick off Vanguardian’s chest. We pull away from each other and I watch as the Juggernaut falls into a thick cloud and disappears from view.
I twist my head and throw out my arms to use the wind drag to help steer me around. Once I’ve repositioned myself directly over Lisette, I can see the Aeronautilus coming up on me fast.
